Contents

Lore

Biography

Story

Previous Bio

Abandoning the Kinkou Order and her title of the Fist of Shadow, Akali now strikes alone, ready to be the deadly weapon her people need. Though she holds onto all she learned from her master Shen, she has pledged to defend Ionia from its enemies, one kill at a time. Akali may strike in silence, but her message will be heard loud and clear: fear the assassin with no master.

Ionia has always been a land of wild magic, its vibrant people and powerful spirits seeking to live in harmony… but sometimes this peaceful equilibrium does not come easily. Sometimes it needs to be kept in check.

The Kinkou are the self-appointed keepers of Ionia’s sacred balance. The order’s loyal acolytes walk the spirit and material realms, mediating conflicts between them and, when necessary, intervening by force. Born among their ranks was Akali, daughter of Mayym Jhomen Tethi, the renowned Fist of Shadow. Mayym and her partner Tahno raised their daughter within the Kinkou Order, under the watchful leadership of Great Master Kusho, the Eye of Twilight.

Whenever her parents were called away, other members of the order stepped in as Akali’s surrogate family. Kennen, the Heart of the Tempest, spent many hours with the young girl, teaching her shuriken techniques, and emphasizing speed and agility over strength. Akali was a precocious child, and soaked up the knowledge like a sponge. It became clear to all that she would follow her parents’ path—along with the Great Master’s son and appointed successor Shen, she would lead a new generation dedicated to preserving Ionia’s balance.

But balance can be fleeting. The order found itself divided.

A wayward acolyte named Zed returned, and clashed violently with Kusho, wresting power in a bloody coup. Akali fled into the eastern mountains along with Mayym, Shen, Kennen, and a handful of other acolytes. Sadly, Tahno was not among them.

Zed’s transformation of the Kinkou into the merciless Order of Shadow was almost complete. But, as the new Eye of Twilight, Shen intended to rebuild what had been lost. They would return to the Kinkou’s three fundamental philosophies: the pure impartiality of Watching the Stars, the passage of judgment in Coursing the Sun, and the elimination of imbalance by Pruning the Tree. Even though they were now few, they would train neophytes to restore and grow their numbers once more.

When Akali came of age at fourteen, she formally entered her Kinkou training, determined to succeed her mother as the new Fist of Shadow.

She was a prodigious fighter, and mastered the kama and kunai—a handheld sickle and throwing dagger. Though she did not possess the magical abilities of many of her fellow acolytes, she proved to all she was worthy of the title, in time allowing her mother to step down and help mentor the younger neophytes.

But Akali’s soul was restless, and her eyes were open. Though the Kinkou and the Order of Shadow had come to an uneasy accord in the wake of the Noxian invasion of Ionia, she saw that her homeland continued to suffer. She questioned whether they were truly fulfilling their purpose. Pruning the Tree was meant to eliminate those who threatened the sacred balance... yet Shen would always urge restraint.

He was holding her back. All the mantras and meditations could quiet her spirit, but such platitudes would not defeat their adversaries. Her youthful precociousness turned to outright disobedience. She argued with Shen, she defied him, and she took down Ionia’s enemies her way.

In front of the whole order, she declared the impotence of the Kinkou, all its talk of spiritual balance and patience accomplishing little. Ionians were dying in the material realm, and that was the realm Akali would defend. She was trained as an assassin. She was going to be an assassin. She did not need the order anymore.

Shen let her go without a fight, knowing this was a path that Akali must walk alone. Perhaps that path would bring her back one day, but that would be for her to decide.

I crane my head up and around from the wicker mat I’m lying prone on to stare right into the eyes of the vastaya kneeling over me. I can feel the blood sliding down my back.

“How about you be a little more careful?” I add.

Bo’lii pulls his qua’lo and mulee away from my shoulder, the tools of a tattoo artist, like a hammer and chisel, made from serpent bone. Some use other animals or metal, but the serpent bones are just hollow enough to give the ink the fine line that a master like Bo’lii demands in his work. A little more of my blood drips off the mulee and onto my back. He smiles, dabs it with a swatch of old linen and shakes his head. Then he holds up his hands and shrugs, as if to ask, You want me to stop?

The words don’t come. Noxian soldiers took most of his tongue long before I began coming here, but I know him well enough to know what a look can say. His work is more than a fair trade for a little discomfort.

And the blood? I can take a little blood. A lot, if it’s not my own.

“Just clean it up a little, okay? I don’t think we have much time,” I tell him.

Bo’lii begins tapping the mulee with the qua’lo and adding the ink. He has the best inks, rich colors made from crushed Raikkon wild berries and the enchanted flower petals found only on the southern faces of the Vlonqo cliffs. He is a master, and I am honored to be his canvas.

I started coming to Weh’le not long after I stopped listening to Shen. All those years in the Kinkou Order “treading carefully”? No. Shen was wrong about that. About me.

Restraint has never been my thing.

I turn back around on the mat and rest my chin on top of my hands. Keeping my eyes trained on the door that leads into Bo’lii’s tavern. His place is clean, but the air hangs heavy with guilt. The tavern is home to a collection of thieves, rogues, and bad decisions. People come to Bo’lii’s to arrange a way out of Weh’le. Out of Ionia. Because getting into Weh’le is hard… but getting out is even harder.

Weh’le is a phantom port, a hidden coastal village, protected by the mystical properties of Ionia. Unlike Fae’lor, she doesn’t welcome outsiders, and you won’t find her on the maps. Should Weh’le appear at all, it is always on her own terms, daring people into doing very dumb things.

Most approach from the sea, dreaming of riches, discovery or maybe just a new start, only to have their hopes dashed in an instant. First, the shoreline that once called to them vanishes behind a dense wall of cobalt fog crackling with arcane power. The sea rises and falls violently before unleashing torrents of crushing waves. As the survivors cling to their splintered vessel, the fog pulls back for the briefest of moments, allowing them one look at the flickering lanterns of Weh’le cruelly saying goodbye just before the water pulls them down to the bottom of the Breathless Bay.

I can’t do anything about those people. Not my people. Not my problem.

Bo’lii stops tapping. I’m here for someone else entirely.

I feel my satchel against my thigh. It puts me at ease, although I would rather have it on me. From there, I could fire three kunai into three hearts on instinct. Three kills without a thought. Where it is now, I’d have to think a little.

I look up just in time to see the man come through the front door. He is flanked by three guards in their battle dress.

“Well, that makes it easy… I wonder which one I’m supposed to kill?” I mock.

Bo’lii laughs. He can still do that, even without a tongue. It sounds a little weird, but it’s real. He shakes his head again, and does that thing he always does. With a series of hand movements and head nods he tells me to try and do my business outside this time, after they leave his establishment.

“You know I can’t promise that,” I say as I check my satchel, and turn towards the din of the tavern.

I pause at the doorway and turn back to him.

“I’ll do what I can,” I say, before lifting the mask over my face. I don’t mind them seeing me, but if they saw me laughing at them, I think it would be just too much.

The guy with the guards is my people—a high councilman from Puboe, a place not far from the Kinkou Order. But, like many, he sold out his people to the invaders for gold and safe passage to Weh’le, and beyond. So now he is my problem.

But this is as far as he will get. Sure, I could’ve taken him out in his sleep at the inn, or when they made camp along the road to Weh’le, but where’s the fun in that? I want him to taste the salt air. I want him to feel a sense of relief before the end comes. But I also want the others to see him pay for his crimes, and know that this will not stand.

Actions have consequences.

I approach without a sound. His hands are shaking as he raises a mug of ale to his lips. His guards stand in his defense when they notice me. I’m impressed.

“Nice to see manners around here for a change,” I say with a smile they cannot see.

“What’s your business, girl?” One of them asks through a plate of pitted and tarnished steel.

“Him,” I say pointing with my kama. It glistens with hues of the magic it was forged in. “He’s my business right now.”

The guards draw their weapons, but even before they can step towards me, they disappear in a thick ring of blinding smoke. The kunai begin to fly, hitting their targets with a satisfying flesh and bone THUNK.

One. Two. Three.

Footsteps.

I send two more kunai in that direction. A clang of metal, followed by the THUCK-THUCK of them ricocheting into the walls.

More footsteps.

“Aw, you’re gonna bleed!” I call out, flinging a single shuriken from my hip, and flipping across the room, following in its wake.

I break through the smoke to see the last guard splayed out on the ground next to the door. The three prongs are lodged deep in his windpipe—I can see his chest rising and falling ever so slightly. I grab him by the collar, raise him up, just to be sure.

“Almost…” I whisper.

At that moment, I hear a gurgling behind me. I turn to see the councilman through the receding smoke, bleeding out on the floor. His eyes are open, darting back and forth across the tavern, wondering what just happened.

He looks so peaceful now.

There exists an ancient order originating in the Ionian Isles dedicated to the preservation of balance. Order, chaos, light, darkness -- all things must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe. This order is known as the Kinkou and it employs a triumvirate of shadow warriors to uphold its causes in the world. Akali is one of these shadow warriors, entrusted with the sacred duty of Pruning the Tree - eliminating those who threaten the equilibrium of Valoran.

A prodigal martial artist, Akali began training with her mother as soon as she could make a fist. Her mother's discipline was relentless and unforgiving, but predicated on the fundamental principle: "We do that which must be done." When the Kinkou inducted her into the order at the age of fourteen, she could slice a dangling chain with a chop of her hand. There was no question - she would succeed her mother as the Fist of Shadow. She has had to do much in this role which others might find morally questionable, but to her it is in service of her mother's inviolable doctrine. She now works with her fellows Shen and Kennen to enforce the balance of Valoran.

"The Fist of Shadow strikes from the cover of death itself. Do not impede the balance."

Akali’s finally reached a stable (though slightly below-average) state following her changes in the assassin update. Given that her core item is being nerfed this patch (see more in the Items section!), we’re taking the opportunity to not only offset the hit to Gunblade, but get Akali to a slightly stronger spot than she was at before.

Shadow Dance represents a lot of what we like about Akali’s kill pattern - it’s telegraphed, has appropriate downtime between casts, and gives the opposing team time to react with their abilities to help peel her prey. Considering all of that, we feel like it’s a good spot to help Akali successfully chain from one kill to the next once she gets going.

When we shifted Twin Disciplines from an always-on effect to one compressed into two procs, we held off on allowing it to work on structures. This was a hit to Akali’s pushing strength, given her basic attacks against structures lost some AP scaling without reaping the benefits of the updated Twin Disciplines. We did this to maintain Twin Discipline’s combat focus for the first release of her update, ensuring we’d have a clearer read on follow-up balance needs (see: last patch’s ratio buffs). Now that things have settled a bit and we’ve had a chance to observe how all the changes are playing out, we’re comfortable giving back Twin Disciplines’ pushing potential.

Akali’s update was focused around shifting her damage pattern into repeated, telegraphed spikes. We’re happy with how that pattern’s shaken out, but after a little time in the wild it’s clear that those ‘spikes’ of damage aren’t as sharp as they need to be. For Akali to do her job she’s gotta have the potential for lethal damage, so we’re administering a booster-shot to her scalings to keep her damage threatening.

v6.22Passive causes Akali’s next two attacks to heal and deal bonus damage. W teleports Akali to the cast location.

If you’ve been keeping up with the Assassin notes so far, you’re probably noticing a pattern - each update contain equal parts ‘how do we make this less frustrating?’ and ‘how do we make this feel cooler? Akali’s no different. On the subject of making her more unique, we’re playing up Akali’s ‘smoke bomb’ to feel like a more potent defensive tool, giving her more ninja-like ways to juke, dodge, and mindgame her opponents in combat. As for answering that first question, we’re focusing more of her damage in repeatable, telegraphed spikes, ala Mark of the Assassin. We’re not re-inventing the wheel, but Akali’s update should appeal to those patient enough to wait for the right moment to strike.

Passive - Twin DisciplinesAkali’s first two attacks have bonus effects. Akali’s first basic attack heals her, while the second deals bonus damage. A few seconds after her first attack, this resets.

COOLDOWN : 8/7/6/5/4 after first attack (at levels 1/3/5/7/9)

FIRST STRIKE HEALING : 5-60 (at levels 1-18)

HEALING RATIO : 0.6 bonus attack damage + 0.3 ability power

SECOND STRIKE BONUS DAMAGE : 10-100 (at levels 1-18)

SECOND STRIKE RATIO : 0.5 bonus attack damage + 0.5 ability power

W - Twilight Shroud

SMOKE BOMB Now teleports Akali to the cast location, placing Twilight Shroud at her original position

When we set out to make Duskblade (the shiny new assassin item you can read all about below), we evaluated a lot of our assassins together to see if anyone was significantly ahead or behind the pack. When looking at those left behind, it's no surprise we found Akali in much need of some love.

Most assassins are measured on two major axis: time needed to kill a squishy, and what movement / utility is available to get to the next target (this cycles back and forth). On our current assessment, Akali's pretty good on the former, so we're looking into the latter.

Q - Mark of the Assassin

ENERGY RESTORE :[20/25/30/35/40 energy]⇒ 40 energy at all ranks

R - Shadow Dance

DASH SPEED :[1600]⇒ 2000

v5.10If Akali Qs someone, Shadow Dance will bring her much closer to them. Otherwise all of her R dashes are slightly closer in general.

"Our bad on this one. Adding a little more intelligence to Akali's dashes, where they'll try to adjust distance according to her needs."

R - Shadow Dance

[NEW]CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT : Now gives 50% less passthrough distance versus targets marked by Mark of the Assassin

" A number of patches back, we reduced some of Akali's ability to click on - and delete - squishy enemies. This time around we're looking to give her back some viability and power, but not in the cases where she was raising alarm. In other words, we want Akali to be able to contend when she shows up, but we don't want to just do it by exacerbating her frustrating gameplay. You'll see this strategy in our changes to E's utility (wave clear and as an energy dump), as well as R positioning Akali much closer to her target so she can actually get off a Q proc."

"We're going to be blunt: Akali is a prime example of an assassin with low counterplay, largely due to her reliability and target selection. While Akali's ability to blow up highly mobile targets is valuable, it also means that once she gets even slightly ahead, she's got all the tools to smash her way to a victory. With these changes, Akali will have to be a little more clever with her use of Twilight Shroud to proc Mark of the Assassin, opening up more difficult matchups against melee champions that she previously dominated. Or, as Akali would say, "As balance dictates."

CLARITY! : Fixed a bug where Shadow Dance stacks were not visible to other champions

v4.18No more bonus resistances when Akali is in her shroud, but now whenever she stealths she gets a significant movement speed boost.

"Akali's one of those champions who, when she gets ahead, completely circumvents her meaningful weaknesses by having extra resistances from Twilight Shroud. A fed Akali ultimately turns into a bruiser-assassin Akali who hops into a fight, tanks out damage in Twilight Shroud, and then continues to obliterate the squishies. Rather than removing her defensive mechanics completely, we wanted to focus Akali's skills on more ninja-y things, hence the heavier focus on sneaking and agility. This also allows us to reinforce the proper counterplay to Akali (reveal her in stealth and beat her up), give her better themed mechanics, all while reiterating her focus on opportunistic assassinations. Up front: this is meant to be an overall nerf, but we hope Akali players will be more focused on the cool plays they can make with this new mechanic. "

W - Twilight Shroud

NEWNOW WITH MORE NINJA Twilight Shroud now gives +20/40/60/80/100% movement speed each time Akali stealths, rapidly decaying over the course of 1 second

REMOVEDRESISTANCE IS FUTILE Akali no longer gains bonus armor and magic resistance while in Twilight Shroud

"As we've mentioned previously, the splash art team is engaged in a long-term effort to update our oldest base splashes. We've got a few more fresh updates for this patch. Yes, this is the same context we used in 4.15. "

SPLASH The following champions have received updated base splashes (click the portraits for the full image!):

CLARITY :: Akali's Shadow Dance stacks can once again be seen in her buff bar

v3.07These two changes are intended to give Akali's kit some utility. With Twilight Shroud now granting vision where it's placed, Akali can perform interesting jungle and lane jukes by first casting Twilight Shroud to gain vision of an enemy or jungle monster, and then using Shadow Dance as an escape tool. Overall, it should be a cool little trick that adds some depth to this ability.

Black Shield now only blocks disabling buffs (stuns, silences, taunts, blinds, slows, fears, roots, snares, and suppressions). For example, Akali's Mark of the Assassin, Soraka's Starcall, and Morgana's Tormented Soil will now go through Black Shield. The damage they deal will still be absorbed.

Fixed a bug where Mark of the Assassin would proc even if you miss or are dodged

Fixed a bug where her Twin Discipline passive failed to count ability power and damage gained through buffs, such as improved Ignite, Eye of the Storm, or Mejai's Soulstealer.

Fixed a bug where Crescent Slash has spell vamped for too much

Twin Disciplines spell vamp ratio increased to 10% per 100 damage, from 5% per 100 damage, to compensate for the above bug fix. In total, Akali will vamp more from her single target spells and less from Crescent Slash

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